


Getting the Gig

by Mattecat



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: M/M, s6 au where dareth isn't a misogynist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattecat/pseuds/Mattecat
Summary: As the ninja's manager, Dareth manages to secure a sponsorship with Borg Industries – though he wonders why Cyrus Borg seems so interested in him.
Relationships: Cyrus Borg/Dareth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Getting the Gig

**Author's Note:**

> what's UP my pals, here's a quick cyrus borg/dareth oneshot in preparation for a larger fic. I call it coppershipping. check out [legoshipping dot tumblr dot com](https://legoshipping.tumblr.com/) for writing updates and other fun stuff. have fun!

After the incident with Morro and the Cursed Realm, Wu and the ninja had lost a lot of money. When Dareth met up with them, they were seriously considering taking up jobs of their own again.

"Nah," Dareth told them. "Being a ninja is already a full-time job, isn't it?"

"Not one we get paid for," Jay muttered, slumping face down onto the counter. Cole gave him a hard pat on the back.

Dareth just laughed. "It could be! You know, I've got connections in the entertainment industry. Want me to set something up for you?"

The ninja were skeptical, Wu most of all, but Dareth convinced them to give it a try. He pulled some strings to get them a TV interview, and the ratings spoke for themselves. After that, it was easy enough to line up gig after gig, and while the ninja were uneasy in the face of so much media attention, they didn't have to worry about money.

Dareth didn't get off so easily. His job now was to worry about the money, and make sure the gigs kept coming. He bit his lip and scrolled through his phone. Most of his emails were junk, or scams, or requests to work for free – Dareth wasn't sure how anyone thought that was going to work. He deleted most of them and sat down with a sigh.

He brightened up when he saw the next email. Borg Industries had replied to his sponsorship inquiry, and a representative was willing to meet with him in person to discuss the details. Dareth grinned and quickly responded with the dates he was available. If they got sponsors, they wouldn't have to worry so much about taking on gigs, and the worst it would cost was sewing some Borg logos onto their uniforms.

They settled on a date. Dareth sent a quick message to the ninja with the good news and resumed his other work.

* * *

"Good afternoon!" Cyrus rolled up to him and extended a hand. Dareth returned the handshake, an awkward smile on his face while he internally panicked. "It's nice to meet you, Mister…?"

Dareth managed a chuckle, trying to act casual. Cyrus had a strong grip, and it was almost a relief when his hand was released. "Just Dareth is fine by me," he said. "I don't go by my last name much… gotta say, I didn't expect to meet you in person, heh."

"Expected one of my representatives, hm?" Cyrus beamed. "I thought it would be better if I represented myself. The ninja are very important people, after all – I'd argue more important than me!"

"What, like it's a competition?"

Cyrus laughed. "You make a fair point. Well, Dareth, you already know who I am, but you can call me Cyrus. Shall we discuss?"

They went to the table and went right to business. It was a lot easier than Dareth expected – Cyrus had already wanted to sponsor the ninja, and all they had to do was hash out the details. It was barely twenty minutes after Dareth's arrival when they settled on a plan. "I'll have my lawyers draw up a contract," Cyrus said. "Now, I carved out a good hour for this meeting, so if you're in no hurry, I'd love to talk more."

"Of course, of course," Dareth said. "What did you want to talk about?"

Cyrus propped his head on one hand. "Tell me about yourself. I know you're a good friend of the ninja, but I barely know anything about you. How did you meet them?"

"Uh…" Dareth's mind went blank. Cyrus stared at him with a lopsided smile, and all he could think about was _Cyrus Borg_ wanted to know more about him. Why would the CEO of Borg Industries care about a little guy like him? "Well… they needed a place to train Lloyd way back when, so I let them use my dojo. It was the least I could do, y'know?"

"Right, right. You've known them for that long?"

"Sure have!" Dareth grinned at the memories. "We've been great pals ever since. I've helped 'em out, they've helped me out… it's great just knowing them, y'know?"

Cyrus nodded. "It's nice to know I can count on them in an emergency, but I do worry about them, sometimes. Especially now that Pixal doesn't have a body…"

He trailed off. Dareth remembered – "That's right, she's, uh, linked with Zane now, right?"

"That's one way to describe it. If it weren't for Zane, her mind, her programming, whatever you want to call it, would've been scrapped with the rest of her body." Cyrus sighed, his smile gone. "As much as I'm grateful to him and the other ninja for saving her life, I wish she would take me up on the offer to build her a new body. She says she's happy, but working with the ninja, she's in more danger than she otherwise would be."

"I get it," Dareth said. "I won't lie, I worry about them too, sometimes."

Cyrus smiled again. "Just sometimes?"

"Okay, yeah, most of the time. Why do you think I'm trying to help them out?" Dareth chuckled. "After all they've done for Ninjago, someone's gotta give something back."

"That's a fair point. You must be working hard for them."

"I try, I try."

Dareth couldn't keep the smile off his face as they talked for the rest of their time. He felt comfortable around Cyrus, enough to just chat with him. Even though Cyrus was such a powerful person, he was genuinely interested in what Dareth had to say. Imagine that!

Eventually, the time Cyrus had designated for their meeting ran out. "I ought to get back to work," Cyrus said. "It was nice speaking to you, Dareth! I'll see you next time, won't I?"

"Of course!" Dareth said. "We gotta sign the contract, right?"

"Right, right. I'll see you then."

Dareth stood up and left with a wave. Cyrus waved back, a lopsided grin on his face.

* * *

Dareth couldn't get Cyrus out of his head. He assumed it was just because he was a huge fan of the guy, but that couldn't be the only thing, right? He shook his head and leaned back in the car seat, letting out a sigh.

"You alright?" Nya asked from behind him. "You're not nervous, are you?"

"Nervous?" Dareth laughed. "Why would I be nervous?"

"Dareth is right," Zane said. "Cyrus Borg is a good man. He won't try to take advantage of us."

"I'd be nervous," Jay commented. "What if we do something embarrassing? Like, we're standing in front of Cyrus Borg and someone lets slip that I have a poster of him back at my parent's place?"

Kai snorted. "I mean, now that you've said it in front of Pixal…"

"What?" Jay glanced at Zane. "Oh no!"

Zane chuckled. "Don't worry, she won't tell him."

Dareth couldn't help but laugh, too. "Nah, Zane's right. Cyrus' a cool guy, and I'll look over the contract before we sign it. I dunno what I'm worried about."

"It'll be fine," Lloyd said. "All we gotta do is sign the contract and Dareth will take care of the rest, right?"

The rest of the ninja voiced their agreement. Dareth smiled and looked back out the window, spotting Borg Tower in the distance. Yeah, everything would be fine. He would do his job and the ninja would do theirs.

So why was he so nervous at the thought of seeing Cyrus?

"We're here," said their driver. Dareth took a deep breath and got out of the car.

* * *

Cyrus greeted each of the ninja with a handshake and a smile. When Dareth reached him, he took Dareth's outstretched hand in both of his own and beamed at him. "It's so good to see you again!" he said. "Catch me before you go, I'd love to talk more with you."

Dareth flushed. "Sure," he said, "I'll stay for a bit. Not sure how long, though, these ninja are great, but they're not the most patient, heh."

Cyrus let out a pleasant laugh. "I won't keep you too long, don't worry!" 

They signed the contract without much ceremony. Dareth gave it a quick look, but as suspected, there was nothing in it they hadn't already discussed and agreed on. While the ninja were chatting with each other and demolishing the snack bowl set up for them, Dareth and Cyrus sat at in a corner and chatted about Dareth's duties as the ninja's manager.

"I can't imagine it's easy," Cyrus said. "All the responsibilities… you're playing a lot of roles at once, aren't you?"

Dareth shrugged. "Eh, most of it was easy enough to pick up. Not at first, of course, but the hardest part's the socializing, and I've always been pretty good at that."

"I can tell, you're quite the charmer!"

Dareth flushed and tried to laugh it off, but Cyrus kept going. "No, really!" he said. "You make everyone you meet feel special, for lack of a better word, and you do your best for the people you care about. How could anyone not be charmed by that?"

"You'd be surprised, heh. Other than the ninja, I don't have a lot of friends. Before I met them I was kind of a nobody."

"Color me surprised." Cyrus smiled. "You seem like someone with a lot to offer the world."

"Eh, it's nothing compared to what you've already done."

Cyrus waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, preposterous. I haven't done that much."

"What?" Dareth gestured to the office around them. "Cyrus Borg, CEO of Borg Industries, thinks he hasn't done much? You helped rebuild Ninjago City after it was destroyed! You've invented so many knickknacks and doodads to make the world a better place!"

"Knickknacks and doodads?" Cyrus snorted, but he was smiling all the same. "I suppose you're right, in a sense. Though sometimes I wish I could do good on a smaller scale. As it is now, it's arguable whether I've truly made the world a better place when my mistakes are… amplified."

"Well," Dareth said, "you're doing some good right now, aren't you?"

"I try," Cyrus said. "I try. Thank you, Dareth."

They ended their conversation with that, since Lloyd was walking towards them. "Hey, Dareth," he said, "we're about ready to go. Thanks for all you've done, Dr. Borg."

"It's no problem!" Cyrus said. "I hope everything goes well for you. Dareth, would you like to meet up again in a week or so?"

"Sure!" Dareth said immediately, then, "Wait, why?"

Cyrus cleared his throat with a small cough. "Just to discuss some, ah, particulars. I'll email you with the details. Have a safe drive!"

"Oh, alright. See you later, Cyrus!"

Dareth shook his hand and headed back to the elevator with the ninja. At the doors, he glanced back over his shoulder. Cyrus was watching him go. Dareth's face reddened and he quickly looked away.

"That went well," Zane said. "Don't you think so, Dareth?"

"Yeah," he said. "Of course."

* * *

Cyrus wanted to meet over lunch. He gave a few options for restaurants in the email and assured Dareth he would cover the bill. Dareth looked up each option, mentally floundered at how fancy they were, and chose the one closest to his apartment. Cyrus soon responded to tell him he had reserved a table. "See you soon!" he wrote, followed by a winking emote. Again, Dareth felt his face heat up, and he quickly exited out of the tab and pushed himself back from the computer.

"Keep it together, Brown Ninja," he said out loud, running a hand over his face. He had to keep these meetings professional. Sure, Cyrus was a nice guy, and Dareth thought he was kind of hot, but their relationship was strictly business. There was no room for feelings towards him.

He had to do his best, for the ninjas' sake.

So Dareth put together his nicest outfit and took a taxi to the restaurant. He tried hard to keep his cool as he approached the host and told her he was with Borg, party of two.

She nodded. "Right this way."

Cyrus was waiting for him at the table. "Oh!" he said brightly when Dareth reached him. "I didn't expect you so soon! I got here fairly early, after all. Not that it's a problem, of course."

"Good to hear," Dareth said with a chuckle, sliding into his seat. "Is it too soon to ask what you wanted to talk about? You didn't, uh, mention it in your emails…"

"Just business, you know that much." Cyrus picked up the menu. "But we can ease into it. How are you?"

"Oh, same as ever." Dareth took a look at his own menu. "Busy, but managing it. Honestly, I'm kind of glad for a chance to sit for a while. I mean, not that I'm not sitting most of the time, but it's different when I'm not on the phone or answering emails, y'know?"

"I can imagine." Cyrus smiled at him. "It's rough, working all the time, isn't it?"

"Sure is! Worth it, though, totally worth it." Wow, everything on the menu was expensive. Dareth supposed he shouldn't worry about it, since Cyrus was the one paying. "Besides, it's not like the ninja have it any better."

"Oh no! They're not working too hard, are they?"

"Don't worry, I'm easy on them. At least, as easy as I can be. I may be their manager, but the crowds aren't here for me, y'know?"

Cyrus nodded. "I suppose that makes sense."

"But enough about me," Dareth said. "What's your story, Cyrus?"

Cyrus blinked. "My story? What for?"

"I dunno, just because. People like talking about themselves, right? I feel like I've done too much of it."

"Why would I want to talk about myself? I already know everything about myself." Cyrus picked up his glass of water and held it without drinking. "I've done so many interviews, telling everyone else what they want to know about me. I'd rather listen to someone else for a change."

"Huh," Dareth said, unsure how to respond. He picked up his own water and took a sip. "Alright. Got any questions for me?"

"Are you single?"

Dareth sputtered and spilled water on himself. "Oh!" Cyrus squeaked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean – here, take this."

He leaned across the table and handed Dareth a napkin. "Sorry," Dareth said, taking it and dabbing at his shirt. "I just, uh, wasn't expecting that."

"No need to apologize, Dareth!" Cyrus rubbed the back of his head with a small laugh. "I didn't mean to be so… forward, it's just… difficult to read people, sometimes. I didn't know if you were getting the hints I was dropping."

Dareth made a strangled noise. "Hints? I thought we were here for business."

"I'll take that to mean you weren't." Cyrus flushed. "I know we don't know each other very well, but the ninja speak very highly of you. I was delighted when you reached out for the sponsorship request, and after our first meeting, I wanted to get to know you better. I'm sorry if I went too fast – and I'm sure I did. I don't even know if you like men, for goodness sake!"

Dareth swallowed hard and flashed a smile. "Is that your next question?"

Cyrus stared at him for a moment before a lopsided grin spread across his face. "I suppose it is. Do you?"

"Like men?" Dareth took another drink of water to hide his grin. "Can't say I don't. In fact, lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about this guy I know."

"Really?" Cyrus propped his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand. "What's he like?"

"Oh, he's a great guy. Kind of a bigshot, though. Before I met him, I didn't think he'd see anything in me, but he makes me feel important, y'know?" Dareth chuckled. "Sometimes I dunno if I can live up to what he sees in me."

"I'm sure he's only seeing what's already there," Cyrus said. "I know I am."

"Eh, it's not a bad thing, that's for sure." Dareth raised his eyebrows. "Plus he's pretty hot."

Cyrus snorted. "Oh, you're just saying that."

"I'm serious!"

"Let me guess, you're actually talking about a significant other and not me."

"Nah, I wouldn't be mean like that. Besides, I'm single."

"Really?" Cyrus straightened up. "So…"

"You wanna give it a shot?"

Cyrus let out a quiet laugh. "I'd like nothing better."

Dareth grinned at him and picked up his menu again. "Where's the waiter? I would've thought someone would take our drink orders by now."

"Ah." Cyrus' smile disappeared. "Hopefully they only wanted to give us space when they saw us talking."

"Yeah, maybe. Wait, what else would they be doing?"

"I'm a bit of a public figure, as you know. Let's just say you might see your picture in the tabloids tomorrow."

Dareth shrugged. "Eh, it could mean more publicity for the ninja. Are you worried?"

"Not particularly."

"Then let's roll with it."

The waiter appeared shortly afterwards with an apology for the wait, and their lunch proceeded without interruptions. Dareth found himself doing most of the talking, but Cyrus listened and watched him with a smile, and Dareth couldn't keep a dopey grin off his face. He barely slowed down when their food arrived, though he did try not to talk too much with his mouth full.

They left once Cyrus paid the bill. "I had a wonderful time, Dareth," Cyrus said as they headed out the door. "Shall we arrange another meeting later?"

"Sure, sure," Dareth said. "What should I tell the ninja?"

"Not much for now. If Pixal asks, I'm going to tell her there's reciprocal attraction, but that we're still in the very early stages, and to keep things quiet." Cyrus looked at him with his brow furrowed. "Is that alright? I'd rather not go public just yet."

"Fine with me. Can I walk you back to your car?"

"Of course! My driver just texted me, she'll be at the garage soon."

They reached the garage before the driver did. Dareth took a quick look around, decided their surroundings were suitably empty, and leaned down to give Cyrus a quick peck on the cheek.

"Oh!" Cyrus pressed a hand against where Dareth kissed him. "This is…"

Dareth's face flushed. He tried to laugh it off. "I'll see you next time, Cyrus. Don't work yourself too hard!"

The van pulled up to them. Cyrus smiled back. "I could say the same to you! We'll be in touch?"

"'Course we will."

They waved to each other as the van drove away, and Dareth headed home with a bounce in his step.


End file.
